Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said that if international
efforts to halt Iran´s nuclear program fail, any military action
against Tehran should be led by the United States and not by Israel.

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In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour which was recorded on
Sunday and aired on Monday, Olmert said, “The last resort is a
military action. And I prefer that it would be an American action --
supported by the international community -- if all the other efforts
would fail.”

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Olmert added that the U.S. government should decide on the extent and
the scope of any military action, saying, “Israel certainly could be
part of the effort, but Israel should not lead it.”

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The former Prime Minister said there is no immediate need for
military action against Tehran. “I know one thing: that the Iranian
leadership has not gone beyond a certain line for the time being of
developing the nuclear program. And that shows that they are at least
thoughtful, which means that they are not rushing, but they are
calculating their steps.”

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In the interview, Olmert also responded to the harsh remarks made
over the weekend by former Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin.

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Diskin attacked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense
Minister Ehud Barak at an open forum, saying they are “messianic”
and “unfit to hold the reins of power. They give the public a false
picture on the Iran question. They create the feeling that if Israel
does not act, Iran will have a nuclear bomb, even though experts
think that an attack on Iran will cause it to speed up the process of
arming with nuclear weapons.”

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Olmert described as “quite unusual” the comments from Diskin and
added, “I prefer to distinguish between the personal aspects of what
he said and the substantial aspects of what he said. We don´t think
that the priorities are set in the right way. First priority, as I
said, is cooperation with America from a respectful and serious and
careful attitude and not trying to teach the president of America or
preach to the president of America or blame the president of America,
but rather cooperate with him.”

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Olmert also implied that, like Diskin, he did not trust the current
leaders of Israel to make the right decisions.

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“You have to have full trust in the judgment of those who have to
take decisions,” said Olmert. “And you could understand from what I
said that maybe something in my trust is lacking.”

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Asked if he does not have full trust in the Netanyahu government,
Olmert replied, “Apparently.” He admitted he was “worried” that a
preemptive attack on Iran could be a “terrible, terrible mistake for
the security and the well-being of Israel.”

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Olmert, who faces a series of indictments and court hearings on
charges of bribery and abusing public trust, was recently the keynote
speaker at the annual J Street conference. The organization describes
itself as being “pro-Israel” and “pro-peace,” but many Jews believe
that the organization actually undermines the interests of the State
of Israel and Jewish people.

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Only several days ago, J Street’s regional director said that in the
event that war broke out involving Israel, J Street would not
necessarily support the Jewish state.

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When Olmert served as Prime Minister, he was determined to reach a
peace agreement with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. He
went so far as to offer Abbas 94 percent of Judea and Samaria, a
shared jurisdiction of Jerusalem, and allowing 5,000 PA Arabs who
left their homes in 1948 back into Israel.